Apparatus for driving on-vehicle occupant-protecting airbag device
First Claim
1. An apparatus for driving an occupant-protecting airbag device mounted on a vehicle, the airbag device including an airbag and a squib to which power is supplied, the squib being deployed by igniting the squib, the apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of sensors each sensing a physical quantity acting on the vehicle and outputting analog signal indicative of the physical quantity;
a comparator placed to directly receive at least one of the analog signals, the comparator configured to make a comparison between the at least one of the analog signals and a reference signal given to the comparator to produce a digital signal corresponding to the at least one of the analog signalsa digital-signal input port configured to receive the digital signal produced by the comparator;
an A/D (analog to digital) converter receiving the analog signal outputted from at least one of the plurality of sensors to cause the A/D converter to perform an A/D conversion on the analog signal to produce another digital signal;
a determination unit configured to use both the another digital signal produced by the A/D converter and the digital signal received by the digital-signal input port to determine whether or not the airbag should be deployed; and
an ignition circuit configured to cause the squib to be ignited to deploy the airbag when the determination unit determines that the airbag should be deployed.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for driving an occupant-protecting airbag device mounted on a vehicle is provided. The airbag device includes an airbag and a squib and the squib can be deployed by igniting the squib. The apparatus comprise plural sensors, plural A/D converters, a determination unit and an ignition circuit. Each sensor senses a physical quantity acting on the vehicle to output an analog signal indicative of the physical quantity. Each of the plural A/D converters is electrically connected to at least one of the plurality of sensors to cause each A/D converter to perform an A/D conversion on the signal. The determination unit uses the signal converted by each A/D converter to determine whether or not the airbag should be deployed. The ignition circuit causes the squib to ignite to deploy the airbag when the determination unit determines that the airbag should be deployed.
16 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for driving an occupant-protecting airbag device mounted on a vehicle, the airbag device including an airbag and a squib to which power is supplied, the squib being deployed by igniting the squib, the apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of sensors each sensing a physical quantity acting on the vehicle and outputting analog signal indicative of the physical quantity; a comparator placed to directly receive at least one of the analog signals, the comparator configured to make a comparison between the at least one of the analog signals and a reference signal given to the comparator to produce a digital signal corresponding to the at least one of the analog signals a digital-signal input port configured to receive the digital signal produced by the comparator; an A/D (analog to digital) converter receiving the analog signal outputted from at least one of the plurality of sensors to cause the A/D converter to perform an A/D conversion on the analog signal to produce another digital signal; a determination unit configured to use both the another digital signal produced by the A/D converter and the digital signal received by the digital-signal input port to determine whether or not the airbag should be deployed; and an ignition circuit configured to cause the squib to be ignited to deploy the airbag when the determination unit determines that the airbag should be deployed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for driving an occupant-protecting airbag device mounted on a vehicle, the airbag device including an airbag and a squib to which power is supplied and the squib being deployed by igniting the squib, the apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of sensors each sensing a physical quantity acting on the vehicle and outputting an analog signal indicative of the physical quantity; a comparator placed to directly receive at least one of the analog signals and configured to make a comparison between the at least one of the analog signals and a reference signal given to the comparator so that a digital signal corresponding to the at least one analog signal is produced; a digital-signal input port configured to receive the digital signal produced by the comparator; an A/D (analog to digital) converter receiving the analog signal outputted from at least one of the plurality of sensors to cause the A/D converter to perform an A/D conversion on the signal to produce another digital signal; determining means for using the another digital signal produced by the A/D converter and the digital signal received by the digital-signal input port to determine whether or not the airbag should be deployed; and igniting means for causing the squib to be ignited to deploy the airbag when the determination unit determines that the airbag should be deployed.
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16. An apparatus for driving an occupant-protecting airbag device mounted on a vehicle, the airbag device including an airbag and a squib to which power is supplied, the squib being deployed by igniting the squib, the apparatus comprising:
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a first sensor and a second sensor for sensing a physical quantity acting on the vehicle, the first sensor and the second sensor respectively outputting first and second analog signals indicative of the physical quantity; an analog to digital (A/D) converter configured to receive the first analog signal outputted from first sensor and produce a first digital signal corresponding to the first analog signal; a comparator disposed to directly receive the second analog signal outputted by the second sensor, the comparator configured to make a comparison between the second analog signal and a reference signal and produce a second digital signal corresponding to the second analog signal; a digital-signal input port configured to receive the second digital signal produced by the comparator; a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the airbag should be deployed based upon both the first digital signal and the second digital signal; and an ignition circuit configured to cause the squib to be ignited to deploy the airbag when the determination unit determines that the airbag should be deployed. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification